Thursday, January 20, 2011

Be My dishcloth by Kris KnitsThis is being done out of Lily Sugar 'N Cream in white. I will be making a few dishcloths as I am planning on giving sets as gifts for Christmas.

I would prefer to make these cloths out of a softer cotton that I have in the stash (but not enough of) but have no tag for so I don't know what it is. I am hoping that it is Peaches n Cream since I have found a website to order this from and I *think* I can get it from Wal-Mart.

I looked for shawl pattern that I would be able to use up my Naturally Caron.com Spa yarn in Misty Taupe. This will be a nice shawl to have for spring and summer nights since the yarn is a blend of 75% Microdenier Acrylic & 25% Rayon from Bamboo.

I would like to have this completed by end of January but am not making any promises since as soon as my yarn arrives from KnitPicks.com for Nicks socks they will be cast on.

Up next on the needles:Still waiting for the yarn to arrive for Hubby's socks but once it does the socks will be my primary focus.I finally decided on the American Beauty headband for my niece, Nevaeh.I also realized that my SIL Stacy (yeah I have 2 sisters, Stacey & Stacie and a sister in law Stacy) is due with their baby boy in 2 weeks. I want to knit something like the Moderne Baby Blanket or Hooded Baby Blanket.

Podcasts I'm watching or listening to:I went overboard finding podcasts this week but here is the short list...Anatomy of KnittingBelle of the BallClothed in the Lamb (put out a new one that I have not yet listened to but it is up next)KnitCents PodcastThe Knitmore GirlsThere are more but I will share those another time.My Thoughts:This week I learned a different (and better) way to hold my yarn and right needle. The excitement of this has produced many stitches. There is much to learn as I grow in my knitting "career".

Knit quote of the moment:" It is a peculiarity of knitters that they chronically underestimate the amount of time it takes to knit something. Birthday on Saturday? No problem. Socks are small. Never mind that the average sock knit out of sock-weight yarn contains about 17,000 stitches. Never mind that you need two of them. (That's 34,000 stitches, for anybody keeping track.)Socks are only physically small. By stitch count, they are immense."— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much)

In other crafts:I pulled out my hexagonsto work on randomly. They are on my nightstand but I have not actually sewn any yet since putting them there. But they are there so I will make some eventually.I also went through a large amount of my sewing stash and determined that I MUST make some bags soon!!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Stacey's ScarfI have 13 repeats to complete this scarf. That is 130 rows or 2600 more stitches. I have completed 9580 stitches. Or 479 rows. I need to get in gear on this so I can mail it in time for her birthday.

This is the only thing I have cast on at the moment. More on what I want to do to follow.

Finished Objects (FOs)

Blackhearted by Ariel AltarasMy Blackhearted socks are complete. They could stand to be a little more snug around the top but I love having sock on my feet that fit heel to foot. I see a long love affair with making socks.

Detail shot of the heart pattern on the leg.

I loved making these socks so much that I finished the second one in 3 days. I stayed up way too late to be responsible but I was so close to finishing the sock that I just had to.

I did this twice because I didn't read the pattern properly the first time and came out with that short & wide heart on the right. After re-reading the pattern I realized my mistake and am much happier with the second. If I get the motivation I may make a garland of flat hearts for decoration to go along with these.

Miscellany

One last little photo treat is the project I worked on at my Dad's house today. He got a BIG label printer and needed my help installing it (since I did that in a previous life and the tech support guy from the printer company couldn't figure it out). As a test I made this label to put on my comp book that I have been writing down patterns in to keep my work portable.

I finally placed my order at KnitPicks.com for wool for hubby's birthday socks, some yarn for me and various tools to help me in my endeavors. Special Thanks to BIL Damon for sending the gift card.

So you might ask what socks I will be knitting for Nick? Its the Maritime Wool Socks by Simone Van Iderstine. I may modify this to appear more like Tracks by OzKnitter. We'll see when I get the yarn in my hands which direction I feel inspired to go.

Alex continues to ask for knitted everything including socks and toys (like Ironman). My list of favorited things on Ravelry with him in mind continues to grow.

My Thoughts:The amazing thing about knitting is there are so many different patterns that a person could knit their whole life and not do all of them but it all boils down to two stitches, knit & purl.

Knit Quote of the moment:It is easy to say how we love new friends, and what we think of them, but words can never trace out all the fibers that knit us to the old.George Eliot

Thursday, January 6, 2011

I miss my old blog and have started a newish hobby so what better thing to do than to blog about it.

On the needles...

1. My first pair of socks...(Black)heartedFirst sock complete. Second sock at heel turn.

I chose to do 1x1 ribbing for 5 rounds at top. Next sock I will do at least 10 rounds.Followed by 5 rounds of stockinette since I only wanted a short cuff.Pattern (15 rounds). If I do this pattern again I will do it with beads instead of yo for the heart.Then 6 rows of stockinette before heel flap & turn.Heel flap is eye of partridge. Not perfectly executed but still acceptable for a first go round.Stockinette foot, tried on several times to ensure that the sock would fit.Toe is Anatomically Correct Sock Toes. I like this toe since my big toe is a bit longer than my others. I will keep this toe in my back pocket for future use.

Lessons learned/learning: 1.) Bamboo needles are great in larger gauge but for socks they bend and flex. Buy metal needles. 2.) Dropping a stitch is not the end of the world. You can m1 if you cannot find where the error is. 3.) Finding an extra stitch is easily eliminated with k2tog. You can really tell when the stitches are this small. And if another person is close enough to my feet to see the error then we have an entirely different problem.

deadline: Jan 10th

2. Stacey's scarfSimple c8b cable with garter stitch and p2 edging.

My sister, Stacey, asked me to knit her a lllllooooonnnnnggggg & narrow scarf for her while she was in town taking care of my household while I was in the hospital after my car accident in November. Her requests/requirements: narrow, long enough to nearly reach her ankles when draped over her neck (she is 5'11" so this will be really, really long), and black or gray.I found some acrylic black yarn with silver thread wrapped around it. I instantly thought of my sister. Acrylic because it was readily available and machine washable. Black because of her request and wardrobe. Silver because she always has a little bling.After working with this yarn for 200 rows I decided that I would modify the cable a little just to keep it from getting too monotonous. So I switched the cable from every 10th row to every 20th row for the next 100 rows. I added in a couple of cable rows to signify the center point and give myself a good measuring point. Then to repeat the whole thing in reverse.I dont have a picture of that at the moment but will try to take one tomorrow when we have sunlight.Lessons learned: Acrylic is not my favorite thing to knit with. I need to find another yarn that is accessible, low cost and lovely to touch that is also machine washable.

self imposed deadline: Jan 14, 2011 so I can mail this for her birthday.

Up next on the needles:Hubby's birthday is February 13th and I need to make some socks for him. He is fully aware of them since I will have to have him try them on as I knit to ensure that they will fit. No ideas on the pattern yet but I am sure to find something soon.Something for my niece, V. My sister Stacey has requested a wide headband for her daughter with flowers on top. I am debating American Beauty Rose headband or Calorimetry with knitted flowers added on.My son will be turning 4 in April. Gasp! 4! Oh, how time flies. He has requested many items be knit for him since I started again knitting last month. For him I want to make this Teddy Bear by Debbie Bliss or some other kind of toy and maybe some socks.

In other crafts:Sewing - working on living room curtains. This is a much slower process than what would be normal since I am unable to stand for long periods of time to press the seems. I hope to have them (2) complete by end of January.Kiddo crafts - Alex and I have a lot of black foam to use as shaped sponges for painting. I need to get some brown craft paper from my dad so we can make an art project to decorate our living room.

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me

This space is here for me to show off all the things I work on. I am new to knitting so will probably be showing a lot of that. To me it is monumental (or not) progress from post to post. I am a wife and mother so I will also be sharing some bits about my life but I want to keep this blog focused on craftiness.